We just got back from a trip to Alaska, what a beautiful state! Not sure if you can find a better place in the USA that has so much to offer. We felt like we saw so much and yet so little. Alaska is the biggest US state, so it was difficult to see as much as we wanted to. We spent time in Anchorage, Seward, Homer, Denali National Park & Preserve, Fairbank, North Pole and many other smaller places. We went hiking, saw Denali, went fishing, and took a boat tour out of Seward.

One of our favorite memories was staying at Alyeska Resort, its a ski resort just outside of Anchorage. Even though it was warm and sunny most of the days we were in Alaska, we got to do a lot. Many of our friends who went to Alaska said it rained most of the time they were there. Its true that if you hit a stretch of sunny days, its abnormal. It started raining the last day we were in Anchorage, heading towards the airport.

What I realized from this trip is that you cannot see everything Alaska has to offer in one trip. You either need to move there or spend many more summers traveling the state. It would be cool to see Alaska in the winter as most people visit in the summer. I’ve heard their winters are cold but sunny many days. If you can find a sunny day, you have a great shot of seeing the Aurora. Now that we are home we are already planning a trip back to Alaska. We found this awesome Alaska calendar, which will help keep us happy until our next trip back in 2017!

In Spokane Washington there are hundreds of different landscaping and lawn care companies, choosing the best one may be difficult. With so many different landscaping companies to choose from it can be difficult in narrowing down the best ones. You will want to write down a list of the companies that you know and maybe the companies your neighbors have used. Here are a few ideas on choosing which landscaping company to go with:

Does the company have a website, Facebook page, Google plus page? – These are signs that a landscaping company is being proactive with their marketing. A company that is all over the internet is most likely a good company. Why? Because anyone can leave a review or any business online. “The loudest company will be heard the most”

Does the landscaping company answer their phone? – Believe it or not, if they don’t answer their phone the first time you call, then why will they answer their phone when you have questions for them or they have already started work on your lawn. This is especially important for landscaping businesses.

Do they offer free quotes or free bids? Most landscaping companies will offer free quotes before starting the job, but do they also offer free bids on simple jobs such as lawn mowing or gardening work? If they do not then move on.

Do they hesitate when answering your questions or when trying to figure out a good day to come out to your house? Don’t get stuck in this trap. Sure they want your business, but they don’t really care that much. If you are trying to get them out to your house and they keep pushing the date or time frame out to the ‘next week’ then don’t waste your time with them. Many landscaping companies will have an organized schedule and if they do not, then avoid them and save yourself a headache.

Do they show up on time? Sure you put out a few calls and got a few landscaping companies who said they will come out to your house at a specific time, but who shows up right on time? Any company who doesn’t show up on time, let them know they can leave and that you do not want a free bid from them. If they are going to waste your time, then they don’t need your business.

Do they employ enough people to handle their work load? Sometimes this might be hard to figure out, but there are sure signs you can watch for that will let you know. If they answer their phone the first time you call, if they show up to your home on time, these are signs that they can handle a decent workload.

Once you have a small list of Spokane landscaping companies, you can start narrowing down your list by doing a quick search online for their business. Do they have an active Facebook page? Sure not every business will have a Facebook page but if they do you can see what other people are saying about them. If you search Google for any business you can easily find reviews about that business. If they have bad reviews then you might want to drop them from your list. Sometimes if a business had bad reviews, they might be hurting for work and therefore might be a lower price than their competition. If price is an issue for you, then these mid-class landscaping businesses might be for you.

Just because a business has one or two bad reviews, does not mean they are a bad company, but if you spot a pattern of bad reviews then I would suggest staying away from them from the get-go.

You can also check to see if the Spokane landscaping company has a few videos that show case their services or even reviews. Some businesses will post pictures of past work, which is a great resource on ideas and will show you the type of work the landscaper can do. If you are looking for landscaping ideas then HGTV is a great resource for ideas and images. Be sure to have these ideas available when you meet with your landscaper so they know exactly what you are thinking and the type of work you expect to see.